Black Community Information Center

Monthly Archives: September 2015

BALTIMORE (AP) — The first trial in the case against six Baltimore police officers charged in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray will be held Nov. 30, and the other trials are set for early next year.

Judge Barry Williams decided Tuesday that Officer William Porter, one of three officers to check on Gray after he was put in a police van, will stand trial first. Porter is accused of failing to provide or request medical care for Gray and not securing him safely in a van.

Porter faces charges of manslaughter, assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office in the death of Gray, a black man who died a week after he was handcuffed, shackled and put in the van.

Prosecutors have said they intend to call Porter as a witness against at least two other officers, including the van driver and sergeant who checked on Gray after he was put inside the van.

The judge ruled earlier this month that each officer will get his or her own trial and that they will be held in the city. Five of the six officers appeared in court Tuesday for the first time in their case. Only Porter did not attend.

A few weeks back we brought you the story about a 103-year-old woman who was kicked out of her life-long church by its new pastor.

Ms. Genora Biggs had problems with the pastors deliverance style of preaching and believes she was ousted because she complained. Now, in a complete role of reversal, it is the pastor who finds himself voted out of the church, in a movement that is said to welcome her back.

But according to what Biggs told 11Alive News on Thursday, the pastor is not taking the news lightly and is refusing to leave

In an interview with Biggs at her home in Elberton, 11Alive reports that the disruption to the elders normally peaceful routine has been drastic after being thrown into the media frenzy.

You will recall the letter written by the pastor and signed by the deacon and ten other church members that was mailed to the home of Biggs; saying that she was no longer welcomed at the church and to stay off of church property.

Biggs aims to stand by her story, and told 11Alive that she plans on spending the rest of her days at the church, where she has been a member since the age of …read more

Most ex-cons know they are not supposed to be in possession of a firearm. That’s why a White South Dakota man dreamed up what he thought was the perfect alibi after he accidentally shot himself — he blamed it on a Black man, according to the Argus Leader.

Donald Anthony Watson arrived at the Avera McKennan emergency room in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at about 1:30 a.m. on Sept. 6 for a gunshot wound to his penis, writes the news outlet.

When questioned by police about the wound, the report says the convicted felon blamed “a Black guy [who] tried to rob” him as he was emptying the trash at his apartment.

Officers went to Watson’s apartment in the 1500 block of East Nye Street to look for evidence and witnesses to corroborate Watson’s story. No evidence of a shooting was found near the dumpster. A witness told officers he heard screams of pain coming from Watson’s apartment about 1 a.m. that morning.

A search warrant was served on Watson’s house because of the conflicting stories. Officers found what appeared to be bullet fragments on Watson’s bed, court records show. An empty gun case was found. Officers weren’t …read more

Are they parents in extreme denial or just showing their faith through unconditional love? That is the question many have of Yvonne and Zachery Ervin, who made the national news in a way they could have never expected – as the victims of an attempted murder plot masterminded and almost carried out by their two sons. Earlier this month, Cameron 17, and his brother, Christopher, 22, drugged and then attacked their parents at the family home in Snellville, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta.

The brothers also attempted to blow up the house by tampering with the gas lines, but after their father distracted them, she was able to call 911 and stop the attack before it turned fatal. Zachery Ervin was stabbed in the attack and Yvonne appeared to have two Black eyes after she was released from the hospital.

The Ervins have puzzled outsiders who wonder what could have happened in their family that would have motivated the sons to commit such an act. There is no known previous history of violence among any of the family members, although it has been reported that one son said he plotted the attack for years. If the …read more

An 18-year-old accused of shoplifting in Indianapolis died in police custody Saturday after twice complaining of breathing problems.

The teenager, identified as Terrell Day, died in the back of a police ambulance, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department confirmed to NBC News. Police responding to a report of an armed man at a Burlington Coat Factory store arrested Day, who they say is the suspect, a short distance from the scene.

A gun was recovered, according to police, but Day was arrested without incident.

Once Day told police he was having trouble breathing, an ambulance was called. The EMTs assessed Day, but determined he could be “taken on to processing,” NBC reports. Day again complained of breathing difficulties when the jail wagon arrived and a second ambulance was called but his “condition deteriorated,” police said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI will begin collecting and providing to the public more information about police shootings of civilians, FBI Director James Comey said Monday as the agency released annual data on crime nationwide.

Federal law enforcement officials have acknowledged in the last year a lack of reliable data about how often police officers use force in the line of duty. Former Attorney General Eric Holder urged better record-keeping in a speech this year, calling it a matter of “common sense,” and Comey has publicly expressed frustration with the absence of nationwide data following the Ferguson, Missouri shooting in August 2014.

As part of its Uniform Crime Reporting program, the FBI tracks the number of police officers who are slain, as well as the number of justifiable homicides by police that are reported by law enforcement agencies. But that data are known to be incomplete since it is voluntary for police departments to feed data into the FBI’s system, and little more than a third of local agencies do it, Comey said.

Comey on Monday encouraged every agency to submit the data to give the public a more complete picture of crime. He said the FBI also intends to collect more details …read more

Many criminals prefer to be inconspicuous, but because we live in a digital, social media age where everyone wants 15 minutes of fame, there are some criminals who seek Internet stardom – because they just can’t wait for their Lifetime movie of the week.

Case in point, two criminals who said to hell with traditional ski masks to hide their mugs, so they dressed up as urban icons and robbed a bank, cementing hashtags on Twitter in their honor and gaining notoriety with each blog post and news report about them.

Last weekend, two unusual bank robbers became social media fodder when their photos were released by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department announcing that they were involved in a bank robbery Saturday afternoon. The Internet thought it amusing that one of the criminals appears to be a ringer for the late Rick James, while the other could pass for a modern version of Super Fly.

According to local news station RTV6, two black men entered the Indiana Members Credit Union located in the 8900 block of Wesleyan Road at 12:38 p.m. on Sept. 19, and approached the teller counter with handguns demanding money out of the tills and the safe. The suspects forced …read more

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Court records show a Delaware man who reportedly shot himself and refused commands to drop his weapon before being killed by police while in his wheelchair had previously expressed suicidal thoughts and had a history of being combative with police.

Some people who saw Jeremy McDole, 28, in the days before he was killed Wednesday said he did not appear to be sad or to be acting strangely.

“When I saw him, he was happy,” said Bishop Anthony Slaughter, a community evangelist who talked to McDole last Monday. Eugene Smith, an uncle who said he spoke with McDole about 15 minutes before the shooting, also said he did not sense anything unusual.

Court records reviewed by The Associated Press show McDole, who had at least 16 arrests, expressed suicidal behavior in 2010 and was accused of being combative with law enforcement. In pleading guilty in 2011 to a drug charge, McDole was given a form asking him several questions, including whether he had ever been a mental hospital patient. His public defender responded affirmatively, adding in parentheses: “2010 Suicidal.” Public defender Kester Crosse also indicated McDole was taking the antidepressants Cymbalta and Zoloft at the time of the plea.

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The wife of Miami Dolphins cornerback Brent Grimes was arrested Sunday in the stadium parking lot following the team’s loss to the Buffalo Bills, and she hurt her right knee and arm in a confrontation with police.

Miko Grimes faces charges of disorderly conduct, battery on a police officer and resisting arrest with violence. According to a police report, Grimes was walking into vehicular traffic and was arrested after she disobeyed an officer’s command to stop. She remained combative even after being handcuffed, police said.

Brent Grimes is a Pro Bowl cornerback, and his wife is well-known in South Florida thanks to her Twitter site. She offers frequent opinions about the Dolphins, their fans and the NFL and has nearly 11,000 followers.

According to police, Grimes ignored an order to stop and became belligerent and screamed profanities. She charged one officer while flailing her arms, and when an officer grabbed her in a bear hug and threw her on the ground, Grimes kicked her feet and tried to get up.

Grimes was handcuffed and, once on her feet, head-butted an officer. She was then forced to sit on a police golf cart, and continued to be combative until the …read more

On September 26, a special division of the United Nations will bring together heads of state, dignitaries, business leaders, and humanitarians from all over the world to celebrate the idea of Black self-reliance.

Dubbed the “South-South Awards” to describe the cooperation between the countries of the southern hemisphere to one another, the evening is perhaps the biggest evidence of the growing power of the developing world.

“We are empowering countries who have often not had sufficient resources or time to build a successful state, to build linkages between one another,” says Alejandro Cujiba, the Secretary-General of the South-South Steering Committee for Sustainable Development. “When people have the opportunity to effect their future in their own lifetime, and not have to leave their country to be successful, it can be very powerful.”

The southern hemisphere consists of countries in Africa, Asia, South America, Latin America, and the Caribbean. For hundreds of years, many of these countries have been oppressed both economically and politically, creating huge disparities to their global neighbors in the north. Not only has the United Nations recognized these states as at the center of many of their sustainable development goals, but as the future of the success of our interconnected …read more